Port, also called Porto, specifically, a sweet, fortified, usually red wine of considerable renown from the Douro region of northern Portugal, named for the town of Oporto where it is aged and bottled; also, any of several similar fortified wines produced elsewhere. The region of true port production is strictly delimited by Portuguese law. The soil and grapes, and the skill of Oporto vintners in blending, produce wines of remarkable character, with types running through a series of flavours. Vintage port, the finest, is not blended; but harvests deemed worthy to produce it are rare. The full richness of the port taste is found in dark vintage and vintage character ports; these types are taken from the cask after two or three years and complete their aging in the bottle. Vintage character port is a blend of best wines, sometimes called crusted port because, as with vintage port, it forms a crust within the bottle. Ruby port is a blend of younger wines. Tawny port is blended and matures in cask, changing its colour.

Peculiar to the vinification of port is a large dosage of brandy given to the still fermenting must, by which the character of the wine is greatly changed. Much time is needed for the maturing of ports; in 1950, for example, 1912 port was still excellent. There is some white port, usually made from white grapes, but it is not of equal distinction. The name port has been appropriated by certain wines of other countries, sometimes not aged, often not from the same grapes.

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...green wine, or vinho verde, usually preferred as a lightly sparkling white wine. Perhaps the most famous Portuguese export is the fortified wine called port, named after the town of Porto, where it has been bottled for centuries. Distinguished mainly for notable vintages, port is also enjoyed as ruby, tawny, and dry white varieties.

Red sweet wines, such as port, are more difficult to produce. Although the grapes must be fermented on the skins to extract colour, the fermentation cannot be continued for long if the requisite sugar is to remain in the finished wine. One method of securing sufficient colour is to use grape varieties containing large amounts of pigments in their skins. The skins and juice are sometimes heated...

Porto is chiefly famous for the export of the wine named for it, a popular fortified wine usually served after meals. The trade in port was begun in 1678 and was firmly established under the terms of the Methuen Treaty (1703) between England and Portugal. An act of 1906 defined port as a wine produced in the Douro district and exported from Porto with an alcoholic strength of more than 16.5...